August 11, 2017

“I’m not going to rule out a military option,” Mr. Trump told reporters when asked about the situation in the South American country. “Venezuela is a mess. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary,” he said.

The remarks came a day after President Nicolás Maduro said in a speech to the newly formed constituent assembly that he wanted to speak with Mr. Trump by phone or meet him when he visits the U.S. next month for the United Nations General Assembly.... But Mr. Maduro also reiterated his criticism of Mr. Trump as the leader of an “imperial power,” calling him a threat to the global order....

86 comments:

Just when things were going so well for Trump what with the giant chicken and all he shoots off his mouth and gives Maduro ammunition for his anti-US screeds. He really is his own worst enemy. If Trump wants to do something constructive point out the the Venezuelans are getting what they voted for. And need to.

""…We're all over the world, and we have troops all over the world in places that are very, very far away. Venezuela is not very far away, and the people are suffering, and they're dying. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary."

When asked by a reporter whether this military option would be led by the United States, Trump responded: “We don't talk about it, but a military operation, a military option is certainly something that we could pursue.”"

There are quite a few Lat Am countries that want to do something about Venezuela. It's stinking up the place with crazy smuggling and drugs and who knows what as everyone is selling everything they can. Bandits everywhere and potential guerillas. And it's about to start sending them millions of starving refugees.Colombia most of all, but all of them are going to feel it.

Aaaaand Lefties start pounding the high chair like a MEF was already wading ashore at Punto Fijo. Hilarious. I'll lay a marker. Trump does more to advance peace and stability with just rhetoric than President Dronekiller did with every pound of ordnance he dropped.

Chinese investment in Venezuela is going nowhere unless it stabilizes and is prosperous once more. I assume there are bargain hunters about trying to pick up properties and equities cheap, but there is no profit in anarchy. Nor is a sale a sale.

They don't need fracking. They have access to large amounts of easily accessible crude. The problem isn't availability. The problem is is that for the last twenty years they haven't been investing in the infrastructure of the industry. Neglect and corruption have destroyed the Venezuelan oil industry. A secondary problem is that instead of investing the oil income in creating a robust economy they spent it on imported luxuries for the elite, and bread and circuses for the masses.

The air force was 1544 pilots short, 1211 fighter pilots at the end of FY2016. They say it's worse now.

The two things that caused pilots to leave in mass numbers, was endless war, and aircraft that were unsafe, or unable to perform a complete sortie. They said there wasn't enough working aircraft to stay current, and pilots were killing themselves doing otherwise routine tasks.

The air force is now a paper tiger. Top heavy with Colonels and Generals, who shuffle paper in swivel chairs.

When I retired in 1993 we were doing 260 days deployed a year, and it had been that way since 1980 when the Iran-Iraq war started.

A better idea for Venezuelans and pretty much everyone in the world is to minimize the influence of socialists. Everywhere they gain power they screw things up and kill off large chunks of the population.

If there was any justice socialists would be rounded up and shipped to Antarctica before they caused the death of anymore people.

Etienne said...The air force was 1544 pilots short, 1211 fighter pilots at the end of FY2016. They say it's worse now.

The two things that caused pilots to leave in mass numbers, was endless war, and aircraft that were unsafe, or unable to perform a complete sortie. They said there wasn't enough working aircraft to stay current, and pilots were killing themselves doing otherwise routine tasks.

Don't forget the witch hunts for sexual harassers.

The air force is now a paper tiger. Top heavy with Colonels and Generals, who shuffle paper in swivel chairs.

When I retired in 1993 we were doing 260 days deployed a year, and it had been that way since 1980 when the Iran-Iraq war started.

I never did see many Air Force Enlisted. We only ever saw the PJ's. They always made you feel inadequate as a runner.

The military is definitely overtasked for it's size. The Navy doesn't have enough ships to meet the commitments, munitions stockpiles aren't where they should be, special forces are wearing themselves out, F-18s have serious spare parts shortages and are wearing out ...

Not sure his excellency knows where either guam or venezuela are... there are no trump towers in either place therefore - not interested... more WINNING ! (and war is profitable if you can avoid getting killed) Masters of War - 'and i'll stand over your grave 'till i'm sure that you're dead '

glenn said..."Just when things were going so well for Trump what with the giant chicken and all he shoots off his mouth and gives Maduro ammunition for his anti-US screeds. He really is his own worst enemy. If Trump wants to do something constructive point out the the Venezuelans are getting what they voted for. And need to."

It's standard procedure for the dictator de jur of Venezuela to blame the United States for their economic woes. In every speech the Venezuelan people are told. "If not for the United State.................." Largest proven oil reserves in the world. Let that sink in. Also. When they nationalized the refineries they deported the foreign workers who knew how to run them.Win!

Once again, a journalistic half-wit forgets the difference between "nothing is ruled out" and "everything is likely."

You know what else isn't "ruled out"? An invasion of Canada. Somewhere in one of the war colleges, there are even detailed plans for it. Under the rules of journalistic integrity, that means Trump is threatening it.

The 4.7 ton MQ-9 is an 11.6 meters (36 foot) long aircraft with a 21.3 meters (66 foot) wingspan. It has six hard points and can carry 682 kg (1,500 pounds) of weapons. These include Hellfire missiles (up to eight), two Sidewinder or two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two Maverick missiles, or two 227 kg (500 pound) smart bombs (laser or GPS guided). Max speed is 400 kilometers an hour, and max endurance was originally 15 hours. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, to replace F-16s or A-10s in many situations. Most of the nearly 150 Reapers built so far have been for the U.S. Air Force and since introduced in 2007 these Reapers have flown over two million hours.

"Trump railed against his Democratic opponent as having been “trigger-happy and very unstable” during her tenure as secretary of state, claiming that she produced “only turmoil, suffering and death” while in office.

By contrast, the Republican nominee promised to “prioritize diplomacy over destruction” and pledged that in his administration “our actions in the Middle East will be tempered by realism”."

Andrew Sullivan said ...The president of the United States laid down an ultimatum that if the North Korean dictator issued any more threats to the U.S., there would be a response more ferocious than any military action in human history — i.e., presumably worse than Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Within hours, Kim Jong-un issued a threat to Guam. And nothing has happened … or will happen.

This was a nuclear threat that was exposed as a bluff on the same day it was made.

When a superpower makes such a threat and doesn’t follow through, its nuclear credibility — the cornerstone of our deterrence — is damaged well below the waterline. That credibility — sustained by successive presidents of both parties, for decades — is integral to our national security and to global stability and peace.

Trump’s reckless nuclear bluff was not run by any aides beforehand. It was not coordinated with the Pentagon or State Department. The language was improvised. He was venting. He was winging it.

For the Republican Party, this is a particularly dark and surreal moment. A party once defined by its edge in national security is now actively, recklessly, impulsively endangering it with a president manifestly unfit for the office he holds and the power he wields.

If Obama had said that the Somali pirate situation is out of hand and we need a military operation against Somalia, there would be outrage (actually, perhaps not, since he was treated as a messiah). But then went ahead and bombed the crap out of Somalia.

Instead, we just bombed the crap out of Somalia. No one the wiser, and the Somali pirate problem has diminished. In either case, the end result is the same. Of course we can debate the merits of giving an enemy (un)fair warning about any military operation.

Has trump drawn red lines and when crossed acted by using the big stick that was previously used as a threat?

When we get to the point where we can invade a country, decapitate it, and hold the critical assets with predominately air power, drones, and robots while putting few Americans at risk and doing it at a significant discount (think equipment purchased via Amazon), then would that be a good thing? If we take out much of the risk and cost to being the world police force, should we then do it full on and take out tyrants everywhere? We could have a national thumbs up or thumbs down vote on regimes around the world. It would make a great TV show. We vote them out and send in the hardware. Then we tax the UN for the cost. New World Order!

“I have, at this point, not ordered military engagement in the situation. But the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. That’s an issue that doesn’t just concern Syria; it concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us. We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people.

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”

I suspect there is some planning going on for military options in case Venezuela implodes into anarchy. Some sort of multi-national Latin American force to keep order, and very likely protect food relief as in 1990's Somalia, as even now disorder is such that the security forces are seizing and selling relief goods, much like what the Somalian militias were up to.

There are indications, I believe, of Colombian military preparations. Maybe Brazil and Panama.

Trump has only used Military force in one new situation so far, and that was done very carefully - the Syria strike.

Trump has no interest in expanding military operations, new theaters. He is using the power of the Soap Box that may save lives in Venezuela by avoiding a bloodbath by Maduro to keep power. Maduro will lose power unless outside intervention happens. Either outside forces (Cuba probably) or lots of money. Trump may have just stopped the Cuba option.

Amazing how Democrats rush to defend leftist tyrants the world over. Right now there isn't a dictator who n the world the left is not defending against America. In fact it's plain to see that our leftist types would gladly surrender the US to North Korea or Venezuela or Iran as long as they could execute Trump and ( the key part) every Trump voter.

It would be a huge mistake. If Venezuelans want freedom, they need to rise up and take it. Honestly, given the relatively small size of demonstrations and relatively few fatalities, I'm not convinced they do. If they don't want freedom, why should our soldiers shed their blood?